While Sir Dave Richards and the array of committee men, executives and advisers who will help him decide the England manager's future suck their pencils, England's World Cup bid is suffering collateral damage.

The implosion of Capello's team in South Africa has helped expose the disarray at the heart of the FA, best typified by the fact that Richards is reviewing the manager's position despite being chairman of the Premier League and possessing a knack to be at the scene of the governing body's regular car crashes.

But long before the shambles at Wembley was exposed to domestic scrutiny it had been noted here in the Fifa circles that will decide the outcome of the 2018 World Cup campaign.

Following the departure of Lord Triesman last month the FA has an interim chairman in Roger Burden, a stalwart of the amateur game.

Burden has not been in South Africa save for a brief visit at the start of the tournament, and sources close to Fifa have told Telegraph Sport that his absence has been noted by senior figures in Fifa, Uefa and the South African Football Association and organising committee.

Burden's absence from the VIP box in Bloemfontein for the England v Germany game on Sunday was particularly damaging, given the presence of Fifa president Sepp Blatter. For any country bidding to host the tournament it also provides a crucial lobbying opportunity.

Blatter was not alone in Bloemfontein. Also present was Jerome Valcke, the Fifa general secretary and a potential successor to Blatter and the man who will be crucial in helping England deliver the tournament should they win the right, and both noted that the English delegation was underpowered.

Richards and three of his colleagues from the international committee have been present but they do not carry the same clout.

Bid chief executive Andy Anson and David Dein, the international president, have put in many hours and air miles in South Africa to try to repair the damage wrought by Triesman's careless gossip.

They have not been helped however by the absence of strong, convincing leadership from the governing body. It has not helped them answer questions about how the FA would work with the bid company to stage the tournament.

It is one thing reassuring potential voters that England will provide a strong and coherent governing body, but anyone looking closely at the chaos being played out would take some convincing.

It is not the first time that the FA's internecine struggles have impacted on the bid. Triesman started it when he packed the board with politicians and businessmen but ignored the football stakeholders, including his predecessor and Fifa vice-president Geoff Thompson, who could help deliver it.

Among those initially ignored was Richards, but he was to prove a divisive figure, and his resignation last November represented the low point of the campaign prior to Triesman's fall.

Richards owes his renewed influence to the power vacuum left by Triesman and former chief executive Ian Watmore. Following his resignation the committees have returned with a vengeance, and are now said to be exerting their influence over all corners of the FA.

The result is that beyond Richards there is no controlling mind directing the two-week "review" of Capello's future, nor directing the chairman and senior figures to South Africa to help the World Cup campaign. Far from implementing the Burns Review reforms proposed five years ago, the organisation appears to have regressed to its ungovernable worst.

The position is also damaging to the Premier League, which insists that it does not want to run the England team but has its chairman making the key decisions.

Richards has been advised by independent figures to ensure that whatever decision is taken over Capello is unanimous and has the approval of the whole board. This makes it more likely that the Italian will stay.

The lack of a credible alternative and the golden handcuffs of his contract mean the FA can ill afford to jettison one of its most credible employees.

If he does, perhaps then the organisation will have time to renew its search for a chairman capable of restoring some credibility in time to help win the 2018 World Cup.